Note: These steps assume you already have an account associated with Office and you're trying to install Office 365 or Office 2016. If you're looking for an older version of Office or you're having trouble with your account, select Need help? from below.

Use these step-by-step instructions to help you install or reinstall Office 365 or Office 2016 on a PC, laptop, or 2-in-1 computer. The steps include information about how to install Office in a different language, or how to install the 64-bit version.

The steps below differ if your Office product is part of an Office for home or Office for business plan, so select the correct steps for your product.

Select the steps for your product:

Before you begin: Did you redeem your product key and associate Office with a Microsoft account?

Not every purchase of Office includes a key, but if this is a new copy of Office and you got a key sent to you electronically or it was included in your packaging, you need to redeem it first. (If you've already done this, go to Step 1: Sign in to My Office Account.)

Tip: Your Microsoft account is the combination of an email address and password you use to sign in to services like Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Xbox LIVE, OneDrive, or Windows Phone. If you use any of these services, you already have a Microsoft account. Use this same account when you sign in to Office, or create a new one.

To create a new Microsoft account, on the sign in page select No account? Create one! You can use a phone number, an email account you commonly use, or get a new @outlook.com email address.

Enter your product key and follow the rest of the prompts to redeem your product.

Example of an Office product key:

XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Step 1: Sign in to My Office Account to begin installing Office

Go to My Office Account at www.office.com/myaccount. If you're not already signed in with the Microsoft account associated with your copy of Office do that now. If you're signed in with a different account, sign out of that and then sign in again with the correct Microsoft account.

Note: You must be signed in with your Microsoft account to install or reinstall, and to manage your Office software.

Important: If you already installed the 32-bit version of Office, you'll need to uninstall it before installing the 64-bit version, and vice versa. To uninstall Office, see Uninstall Office from a PC and then come back to this section to complete the install for the bit version you want.

Install the 32-bit version

To install the 32-bit version of Office on your PC using the language you selected when you redeemed the product, select Install. (If you have an Office 365 subscription you'll need to select Install > and then on the next page, select Install.)

Install the 64-bit version

To install the 64-bit version or a different language, click the link Language, 32/64-bit, and other install options.

If you don't see Office listed, your plan probably doesn't include Office applications. If you know your plan includes Office, you may not have a license assigned, see What Office 365 product or license do I have? If Office is not listed ask your Office 365 administrator to assign a license to you.

If you see the User Account Control prompt that says, Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device? Click Yes.

The install begins.

Your install of Office 2016 is finished when you see the phrase, You're all set! Office is installed now and an animation plays to show you where to find Office applications on your computer. Follow the instructions in the window, for example Click Start > All Apps to see where your apps are, and select Close.

Start using an Office application right away by opening any app such as Word or Excel. In most cases, Office is activated once you start an application and after you agree to the License terms by clicking Accept.

Use these step-by-step instructions to help you install or reinstall Office 365 or Office 2016 on a Mac.

The steps below differ if your Office product is part of an Office for home or Office for business plan, so select the correct steps for your product.

Select the steps for your Office product

Before you begin: Did you redeem your product key and associate Office with a Microsoft account?

Not every purchase of Office includes a key, but if this is a new copy of Office and you got a key sent to you electronically or it was included in your packaging, you need to redeem it first. (If you've already done this, go to Step 1: Sign in and install Office.)

Tip: Your Microsoft account is the combination of an email address and password you use to sign in to services like Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Xbox LIVE, OneDrive, or Windows Phone. If you use any of these services, you already have a Microsoft account. Use this same account when you sign in to Office, or create a new one. To create a new Microsoft account, on the sign in page select No account? Create one! You can use a phone number, an email account you commonly use, or get a new @outlook.com email address.

Enter your product key and follow the rest of the prompts to redeem your product.

Example of an Office product key:

XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Step 1: Sign in and install Office

Go to My Office Account at www.office.com/myaccount. If you're not already signed in with the Microsoft account associated with your copy of Office do that now. If you're signed in with a different account, sign out of that and then sign in again with the correct Microsoft account.

Note: You must be signed in with this account to install or reinstall, and to manage your Office software.

On the My Account page, under the name of your subscription, select Install.

On the next page, under Install information, select Install to begin downloading the installation package.

Once the download has completed, open Finder, go to Downloads, and double-click Microsoft_Office_2016_Installer.pkg (the name might vary slightly).

Tip: If you see an error that says the Microsoft_Office_2016_Installer.pkg can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer, wait 10 seconds and then try double-clicking the installer package again. If you're stuck at the Verifying…. progress bar, close or cancel the progress bar and try again.

On the first installation screen, select Continue to begin the installation process.

Can I install Office 2016 for Mac and Office for Mac 2011 on the same computer?

Yes, you can install and use Office 2016 for Mac and Office for Mac 2011 at the same time. However, we recommend that you uninstall Office for Mac 2011 before you install the new version just to prevent any confusion.

On the Office page page, under Install Office 2016 for Mac, select Install to begin downloading the installer package.

Once the download has completed, open Finder, go to Downloads, and double-click Microsoft_Office_2016_Installer.pkg. (The name might vary slightly.)

Tip: If you see an error that says the Microsoft_Office_2016_Installer.pkg can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer, wait 10 seconds and then try double-clicking the installer package again. If you're stuck at the Verifying…. progress bar, close or cancel the progress bar and try again.

On the first installation screen, select Continue to begin the installation process.

Can I install Office 2016 for Mac and Office for Mac 2011 on the same computer?

Yes, you can install and use Office 2016 for Mac and Office for Mac 2011 at the same time. However, we recommend that you uninstall Office for Mac 2011 before you install the new version just to prevent any confusion.

Account questions:

Before you can install Office 365 or Office 2016, you need to associate it with a Microsoft account, or work or school account.

If you have an Office for home product and bought Office at a retail store or online store, but don't have a Microsoft account, it's possible you haven't redeemed your product key yet (if you got one), or you missed the step for linking your recent purchase with an account. Do the following to link an account with Office.

For an Office for home product, go to office.com/setup and create a new Microsoft account or sign in with an existing one, then follow the remaining steps on that page such as entering your product key (if you have one). Your account is successfully associated with Office when you see the page, My Office Account followed by your Microsoft account email address, and a button to install Office. Select the PC or Mac step-by-step tabs above to help you with the rest of the install process.

After signing in with your work or school account you don't see an option to install the desktop applications on the Office 365 home page, go to aka.ms/office-install instead, and then follow the remaining steps in the "Office for business step-by-step" section on the PC step-by-step tab to finish your installation.

If you're trying to sign in with your work or school account to www.office.com and your sign in is blocked, it likely means your Office 365 administrator set up a security policy that's preventing you from signing in to that location. To install Office, try signing in at aka.ms/office-install instead. Follow the remaining steps in the "Office for business step-by-step" section on the PC step-by-step tab to finish installing Office.

Product key, purchase, and installing older versions of Office:

Not all versions of Office 365 or Office 2016 include a key, but if yours did, you need to redeem it before you can install Office. Go to office.com/setup and sign in with an existing Microsoft account or create a new one, then enter your product key. Follow the remaining prompts to finish linking your Microsoft account with this version of Office.

Install questions or errors during install

For Office 365 Home subscribers only: You can install Office on up to 5 PCs or Macs. Share your other four installs with friends or family, or use the same Microsoft account to install Office on your other computers. The steps to install are the same.

For a one-time purchase of Office 2016 such as Office Home & Student, Office Home & Business, or Office Professional: You can install Office on only one computer. However, you may transfer Office 2016 to another computer that belongs to you if you experience a hardware failure or you buy a new computer. For more information, see the Microsoft License Terms for your product, or see this blog post, Office now transferable.

If you bought a stand-alone version of an Office app, for example Visio 2016 or Word 2016, in most cases you install this app in the same way you install the Office suite, by signing in to www.office.com with your Microsoft account, or work or school account and selecting Install for your stand-alone product.

If you have a subscription to Project Online Professional, Project Online Premium, or Visio Pro for Office 365, see Install Project, or Install Visio for the steps to install the apps that are part of those subscriptions.

If Office seems to be taking a very long time to install, this may be caused by problems with your internet connection, firewall, or anti-virus software. For possible solutions, see Office is taking long to install.

Office can also take long to install because of slow internet connections (such as a dial-up connection). If you don't have good connection, install Office using the Use the Office 2016 offline installer.

Office won't install: Your computer must be running a supported operating system to install Office. You can find a list of which systems are supported on the system requirements page. For example, your install won't be successful if you're trying to install Office on a computer running Windows Vista or Windows XP operating system, or on a Chromebook. If your computer can't install the full desktop version of Office, try the free Office Online apps using your desktop browser.

I received an error message: If you got an error message while trying to install Office and it has a Learn More link, select it to get information for how to troubleshoot that particular error. If there wasn't a link, see Troubleshoot installing Office 365 and Office 2016.

Help with specific applications, and help for Office 365 admins:

If Office is installed, but you need help with Office basics, or learn how to do a specific task such as print a document, set up an account in Outlook, or use VLOOKUP in Excel, go to the top of this page and select Apps or Learn Office.

You can also type what you're looking for using the search bar in the upper-right corner.